We watched the finale of Top Chef All-Stars at Stephanie Izard's Girl and the Goat along with many Bravo television notables. The only thing tastier than the eye candy was the incredible food. Enjoy some pictures from our evening! more ›

Perhaps no one is more hungry for redemption than Levitski, whose rise, fall, and second rise were famously chronicled in articles by the Trib and Time Out Chicago around this time last year. The Cliff Notes version: after the show, Levitski returned to Chicago, fell into a depression, suffered financial hardship, became addicted to daytime television, and started drinking. His mother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away, and his dream of opening his own restaurant, Town & Country, fell victim to the economic downturn. Eventually things turned around when Levitski took over Sprout restaurant, a French-American Bistro in Lincoln Park, with his friend (and fellow Top Chef contestant) Sara Nguyen. more ›

Remember the Salahis, the infamous alleged White House party crashers? The couple had been finalists for a D.C.-based edition of Bravo's love letter to why the terrorist hate us, the "Real Housewives of..." series and many saw their gate-crashing at a White House state dinner in November as a publicity stunt, something the Salahis denied. Today, The Daily Beast reports that the Salahis wound up landing that tv gig and have already taped 12 episodes. After the state dinner incident, the White House grilled the Secret Service over the lapse in security and held hearings on the matter. And while White House officials denied the gate-crashing incident had anything to do with Desirée Rogers stepping down as the White House Social Secretary, Rogers was still heavily criticized for the incident and speculation remains as to how large a role it really did play in her leaving. [via] more ›

Did anyone else watch The Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo? It followed the oh-so-theatrical daily life of the celebrity stylist and her two oil-and-water assistants as they weathered the storm of dressing stars for Hollywood red carpet moments. Sounds pretty shallow, right? Well, it was. And we were grotesquely enamored with it. It wasn’t so much Rachel’s glamorama lifestyle of rubbing elbows with celebs that kept us glued. It was her 1) her turns of phrase wrought with end-of-the world drama. (Examples: “You are my life. I die. Killing it on a whole 'nother level. Shut it down.”) And 2) her over-the-top boho style that we actually kind of dug. more ›

Bravo’s fashion designer throwdown show Project Runway is in its fifth season, and we have a hometown hero among the pack representing Midwest style. Woot woot! 39-year-old Terri Stevens hails from Chicago and is a Columbia College alum. Looking like a bit of a headbanger herself, Stevens describes her style as “if Aerosmith met Lauryn Hill met Michael Jackson.” So how did that Frankenrocker aesthetic parlay into the first challenge? more ›

The show opens this week with some ablutions. Some brush their teeth, others put on make up, while Spike and Andrew go through some sort of male bonding ritual speaking in a tongue with which we are not familiar but which we suspect is not inspired by an infusion of the Holy Spirit. more ›

The show opens to some great shots of Chicago. Sights no one has seen since the warm weather. Stephanie and Valerie are working out, pumping some iron and we learn that they used to work together. Valerie says she is happy to have a friend in the competition “for now…” and those two words foreshadow the next few days to come. Next we see Zoi and Jennifer swap clogs which is the chef equivalent of sharing a toothbrush. Oh, well, they are dating. more ›

By now anyone who cares should have had the opportunity to check out last week's "Top Chef Chicago" premiere episode, which saw former Scylla owner/chef Stephanie Izard win the elimination challenge with her Asian-influenced duck a l'orange that almost had BOURDAIN! making indecent proposals to her. That she came back to lord over all after an auspicious ill-conceived start in the deep dish pizza quickfire challenge and a major bout of nerves saucing the duck (watching her hand shake as she sauces the duck is seared in our brain) should be a major confidence booster. more ›

When we last saw our contestants, they were delivering their pizzas to Rocco Dispirito and Padma for evaluation, complete with red, insulated bags that serve as dinner bells to much of the population. The Chefs coo over Rocco like they met their internet date and she turned out to be HAWT. Bravo spares us the details of every reaction for each pizza. We will, too – but here are some highlights: more ›

Top Chef is back and, according to Padma Lakshmi, tastier than ever. As Padma gives us an overview of the show, we get a brief glimpse of telling scenes to come – mainly, the predominant use of the F-word. And something tells us that this may be the most honest look we get into the back of the house. Winner gets: A spread in Food & Wine Magazine, showcase at the Annual Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, vacation to the French Alps, one hundred grand and all the Glad pimpin’ a person can take. more ›

After months of spying and accounts of shooting around town, Bravo finally announced the contestants for the next season of "Top Chef" today (you can read the release here). While the lineup of chefs vying to impress Padma and company are largely from the coasts, three of the contestants have Chicago ties: more ›

While we were chompin' at the bit for the return of Project Runway following a holiday hiatus, the casting for Bravo's next attempt at reality success had us wishing some more episodes of The Office were ready to go. more ›

Here at the Chicagoist offices, several reality shows are popular among the staff, but our devotion for the majority of programs pales in comparison to our love for the crème de la crème, Project Runway. Bravo's hit show returned last night for its fourth season of designing, measuring, catwalking strutting and drama, with two Chicagoans vying for the chance to take it home at New York City Fashion Week. The first episode was the usual... more ›

*This post contains spoilers about last night's Top Chef finale. T.S. Eliot wrote, "This is the way the world ends/ Not with a bang but a whimper." Our Top Chef world ended last night with a whimper from Dale, and two big bangs: a huge whoop from Hung as he was named the winner, followed with an explosion of confetti released from the ceiling of the studio. Chicagoist received a invitation to attend the... more ›

Though Sara Mair may not have won the whole kit(chen) and cab(f)oodle, it seems that her stint as a contestant on Bravo's incredibly addictive Top Chef has not been a complete waste of her time; now she has speaking engagements and a wider audience interested in her take on jerk chicken, Top Chef judges and, most importantly, cheese. Perhaps you're a member of that potential audience? If so, then you should be making plans to... more ›

This post contains spoilers about last night's Top Chef. When last we checked in with our friends on Top Chef, we prophesied that Brian and Dale would be the next two contestants to head home. Brian, you had a good run, but we aren't sad to see you pack your knives—especially if it means one more chance for Dale. The four finalists went to Colorado (similar to how last years' finalists went to Hawaii). Like... more ›

Monday morning can usually suck it, but this morning we woke up to discover something that made it all seem OK; the next season of "Top Chef" will be filmed in Chicago! more ›

Would you like flies with that? more ›

Chicago "chef/consultant" Dale Levitski (formerly of Trio Atelier, La Tache and Orange — Levitski has also spent some time at Stone Lotus) will be Chicago's only representative on season three of Bravo's "Top Chef," a vast improvement from season two, which didn't feature anyone from the Windy City. The self-taught chef uses something called "'flavor math,' where the right number of spices can bring the perfect flavor and taste." He calls it flavor math, we... more ›

Okay, so last night after a rousing episode of “Lost” (oooh, it’s getting so good again), we sat down to watch “Thank God You’re Here”. The show originally aired in Australia where it was the most successful new show in 2006. Parts of it were painful to watch and parts of it – well – parts of it weren’t so bad. We thought Chelsea Handler was okay, taking the easy way out sometimes with her... more ›

In an anti-climatic end to a anti-climatic season, Chicago boy and long-regarded favorite, Matt Lorenz, was affirmed to have the Top Design on Bravo's interior design reality show. The final challenge offered the final two designers more range than they’d received in any previous challenges, with the mission being to design a posh loft in the gallery district of LA. While the premise sounded interesting, the selection of the designers themselves as the client left... more ›

We had every intention of going out to eat last night. We were planning on scouring the latest issues of Time Out Chicago, doing a couple of Metromix searches and discovering the latest delicious-but-not-too-expensive-or-mainstream dining spot. Preferably on the North or Northwest side of the city. But we didn't. Instead, we got home and didn't leave. more ›

Mayor Daley continued his efforts to make Chicago the "greenest city in America" yesterday, announcing two environmentally-friendly public works pilot projects. Starting next year, the city will install 100 solar-powered bus shelters that could save the city $20,000 in electricity annually. The shelters will be easier to install because they won't require digging to plug their lights into the grid. The city will also be testing sidewalks made out of recycled rubber to see if they can stand up to traffic and weather conditions. The material is supposedly more durable than concrete, less prone to cracking and shifting, and easier to maintain. more ›

We admit it. We are Bravo addicts. When 9 p.m. on Wednesday night rolls around, our friends stop calling and we put a pause to our tireless blogging, as "Project Runway" or Top Chef have us captivated throughout the year. Add in some "Inside the Actor’s Studio" and that hot woman on "Work Out," and you’ve got yourself a mixture that’s more addicting than Chunky Monkey. more ›

Last night, walking home from the local watering hole we noticed Division, just west of Damen, was blocked off by a paddy wagon and a mass amount of police cars were lined up on the street. Naturally, we walked over. We couldn't tell what was going on, just saw a guy being rolled in a stretcher into an ambulance. Like we said, we were coming home from a bar so we forgot about it 15... more ›

There’s been a lot of ink spilled about Chicago’s cornucopia of music events this summer, but yesterday’s RedEye also clued us in to several film festivals that are happening in the next three months, including ones we’ve covered like the Silent Film Festival and the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival as well as upcoming events we haven’t like Reeling’s Gay Games fest, the Onion City Experimental Film Festival and the Chicago Underground Film Festival. Here are... more ›

Attention television and movie also-rans: please stay out of Chicago. more ›

Gross. So effing gross, holy shit. Alan Keyes's sweat-soaked napkin (we're actually considering barfing right now) isn't cheap�it's already up to $465. Damn, Republicans and sweat fetishists have a lot of cash to burn. That's Gerry McGlothlin at the right (and probably on the right, snap!), who told the Trib "he wiped the sweat from Keyes' brow with a napkin so he would look better for TV news cameras." Um, McGlothlin wiped Keyes's brow for him? And kept the napkin? Somebody's got a crush! more ›

except that it�s a �real� reality show with tons of product placements and workplace back-stabbing bitchiness. Ah, sweet delicious drama queens, how we love thee. Tonight, there�s a new episode on Bravo at 8 p.m. more ›

For movie junkies, one of the most entertaining reality shows over the last couple years has been the Matt Damon-Ben Affleck brainchild Project Greenlight. It�s too bad that while the show features plenty of gripping behind-the-scenes drama and great real-life characters � someone really should just follow around producer Chris Moore with a camera, Barack Obama-style � the movies it has produced haven�t been as interesting. (Remember Stolen Summer or The Battle of Shaker Heights? Exactly.) Hopefully, that will change with this year�s installment, now with the commercial breaks and bleeped swears of the Bravo Network. Five Chicagoans made it into the top 250 finalists, with two local talents even entering the top ten. Cheer them on tonight at Excalibur, where they will all talk and show their work. Thanks to Ryan for the tip!
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